The Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) was established by cable television network operators to facilitate transporting data traffic, primarily Internet traffic, over subscriber networks. In addition to transporting data traffic, as well as television content signals over a subscriber network, multiple services operators (MSO) also use their subscriber network infrastructure for carrying voice, video on demand (VoD) and video conferencing traffic signals, among other types.
Communications from wireless client devices received at a customer premise equipment (CPE) device (e.g., gateway) may include quality of service (QoS) tags or identifiers informing the CPE device of a QoS level of treatment that the communication is to be given. Generally, the QoS tag associated with the received communication is lost or dropped at the CPE, and a new QoS treatment is given to the communication as it is routed from the CPE to an upstream headend (e.g., cable modem termination system (CMTS)). However, the new QoS treatment may not be the same level of treatment that was given to the communication at the client device.
Typically, interfaces between a client device and CPE device, the CPE device and a CMTS, and the CMTS and a wide-area network (WAN) each support different QoS types and/or formats. For example, in general, a wireless client device communicates with a CPE device over a wireless (e.g., Wi-Fi) interface (supporting Wi-Fi QoS), a CPE device communicates with a CMTS over a DOCSIS interface (supporting DOCSIS QoS), and a CMTS communicates with the Internet over an Internet protocol (IP) interface (supporting Ethernet QoS). Therefore, a need exists to provide consistent QoS treatment of a communication throughout the transport of the communication from a client device to an upstream WAN, as well as for communications transported from a WAN to a client device.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.